An early start this morning saw us destined forSt. Leonardand areas around the Salmon River as guests of theNew Brunswick Botany Club. The purpose of today's trip was to study the amazing variation amonggrape fernswith assistance from Dr. Jim Goltz and Charles Neveu, resident botanist withJ.D. Irving Ltd.(who also kindly provided a van to transport us around their freehold land). Of particular interest was the legendarymoonwort(Botrychium lunaria), a species first confirmed for New Brunswick in 2004 by Charles Neveu.

Moonworts arefascinatinglittleplants, only occasionally emerging above ground and forming associations withmycorrhizal fungias a means to obtain nutrients. They tend to be found on disturbed sites, either natural (e.g., dunes) or man-made (e.g., forest plantations, graveyards).